What is the STOP-BANG Questionnaire?

The STOP-BANG questionnaire is a tool that has been proven to be efficient when it is used to screen for obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). The stop bang questionnaire will assess your sleep apnea group, whether you belong to a low, moderate or high group.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a very common medical condition which affects about 2–26% of the general population. It can occur in all of the age groups. Recent studies have helped to show that asymptomatic OSA is independently connected with an increased rate of mortality and morbidity. Many patients with OSA have been found to have an increase in postoperative complications, this is the reason why it is very important to have an early diagnosis of OSA.

On the other hand, an estimation has shown that 92% of women and 82% of men with moderate to severe sleep apnea are yet to be diagnosed. However, this problem seems to be coming to an end with the use of preoperative screening instruments which will prove to be an efficient solution that will help to identify any patient that is with an undiagnosed OSA.

The STOP-Bang questionnaire is a scoring model which consist of eight very easily administered questions. The questions starts with the acronym STOP-Bang. It is scored based on Yes or No answers. Therefore, the scores range from a value of 0 to 8. A patient with a score of ≥3 indicates a high sensitivity for detecting OSA: 93% indicates moderate OSA while a score of 100% indicates severe OSA.

The STOP-Bang questionnairet is considered to be a very helpful tool for ruling out patients who has moderate and severe OSA. This is due to its high sensitivity at a score of ≥3. However, there is a low specificity at the same cut-off. This is about 47% for moderate OSA and 37% for severe OSA. This results in a fairly high false-positive rates.
Some of the questions includes the following

• Do you snore? Is it loud enough to be heard through closed doors or is it loud enough to disturb your partner?
• Do you always feel tired, fatigued or sleepy during daytime?
• Has anyone ever observed you stop breathing, choking or gasping while you were asleep?
• Are you being treated for high blood pressure?
• What is your Body Mass Index (BMI)?
• Are you older than 50?
• Is your neck size larger than 43cm if male or 41cm if female?
• Are you male?